Google offers numbers on its muni Wi-Fi network

An image from Google Maps shows the various locations of Googe's municipal Wi-Fi routers.

Google Inc. offered a glimpse into the operations of its free, municipal Wi-Fi effort, which the company launched earlier this year in its home base of Mountain View, Calif. Google reported that the network now covers 12 square miles and counts 15,000 unique users each month.

The company said its free muni Wi-Fi network comprises over 400 mesh routers and carries 300 gigabytes of data each day. The company said the network has seen traffic numbers grow around 10% each month.

“Around the globe and across the U.S., many people are still not able to access the online services that are increasingly helpful, if not essential, tools for our daily lives,” wrote Minnie Ingersoll, Chris Sacca and Larry Alder on Google’s corporate blog. The authors are part of Google’s “Alternative Access Team.” “This is why we're committed to promoting alternative platforms for people to access the web, no matter where you are, what you're doing or what device you're using.”

The news comes as the muni Wi-Fi market begins to cool off after several months of white-hot activity. Last year vendors racked up a number of major muni Wi-Fi buildouts, but such announcements have slowed in recent months. Now it appears vendors and others are hoping to take stock in the market before rushing into more new deployments.

EarthLink was one of the forerunners in the muni Wi-Fi market, and has operations in about a half-dozen cities and contracts for another half-dozen more. Indeed, the company is teaming with Google for a muni Wi-Fi network for San Francisco, although that effort is currently stalled. According to the company’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EarthLink manages 150 square miles of Wi-Fi networks across all of its markets, covering 600,000 households.

So far EarthLink has not disclosed usage number for any of its Wi-Fi operations. The company did not immediately respond to an inquiry on the topic.

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